A comprehensive guide to training and certifying K9 explosive detection teams Learn how to: - Train your K9 to detect and safely alert for explosive substances. - Conduct operational searches in buildings, vehicles, ships, and planes. - Train your dog for the specialized work of mine detection. In the high stakes realm of explosive detection, where even the smallest mistake can have fatal consequences, the margin of error is zero. Well trained dog-handler teams can play a key role in explosive detection, but only if their training is top notch. Dr. Resi Gerritsen and Ruud Haak have worked with police departments around the world to help them establish and improve their K9 explosive detection training programs, and in this book they share their expertise with handlers and trainers looking to enhance their own performance. They teach how to pick the right dog for explosive detection work, how to train the dog to detect explosives, and how to properly execute a variety of training and operational searches. They also provide some of the background knowledge you'll need about common explosives and the many factors that can influence a K9's work. Along with essential health and safety precautions for you and your dog, you'll also learn how to test and certify dogs and handlers to ensure excellent performance in the field.

This book focuses on the how-to aspects of K9 explosives detection training. It examines some of the major training systems used by North American police departments, then offers an approach that combines the most effective features of each. Designed to produce handler/dog teams that can conduct searches in any setting and under a variety of conditions, the book emphasises the gradual build-up of learning experiences and ongoing problem-solving. Some problems areas, such as working with other police speciality units, administrative issues, and working with non-police personnel, are also discussed.

A comprehensive guide to training and deploying your drug-detection dog. Learn how to: Select the right dog for drug detection work. Train your K9 using the latest techniques with proven results. Plan and execute searches of individuals and in a variety of settings, including open air locations, warehouses and other buildings, airplanes, automobiles, and ships. In the fight against illegal drugs, a well-trained K9 can be your most important asset. K9 Drug Detection gives trainers and handlers the tools and knowledge they need to properly train and deploy a highly effective K9 drug detection team. Expert trainers Dr. Resi Gerritsen and Ruud Haak provide the key principles for successful training, as well as step-by-step training schedules for both active and passive responses. They describe the many factors that affect a K9’s work in the field, including the influence of air currents and various weather conditions. They teach you how to protect your K9 from dangerous substances and what to do if your dog is accidentally exposed. They also provide background information every K9 drug detection handler should know, such as the basics of drug laws in North America and Europe and essential facts about the appearance, effects, risks, and use of the most common illegal drugs.

In Afghanistan, sometimes all that stands between coalition troops and death or serious injury is a dog. Highly trained dogs and their handlers search for improvised explosive devices or hidden weapons out on patrol with combat troops. It's a perilous job, often putting them right in the firing line, and making them high priority targets for the Taliban insurgents they're fighting. Shane Bryant, a former Australian Army dog handler, has spent the past four years in Afghanistan working with elite American special forces alongside his faithful dog. War Dogs is his story; a riveting account of the hidden war in the mountains and cities of the world's most dangerous conflict, and the comradeship between man and dog that has saved numerous lives.

A professional development masterclass for K9 detection teams and people who work with them. Explore: Questions, ideas, and opinions from handlers across the United States and around the world. Controversies and sensitive topics such as frauds, glory seekers, and credentials. Methods and practical tips gathered from more than 27 years of training and field work. It has been said that about the only thing two K9 handlers agree about is what a third handler is doing wrong. Whether in search and rescue or cadaver and human remains detection, there’s a variety of opinions in how handlers and dogs train and work. K9 Teams: Beyond the Basics of Search and Rescue and Recovery uses solid science and the experience of dozens, if not hundreds, of handlers to explore the issues teams and organizations commonly encounter in training and operations. Vi Hummel Shaffer is a professional K9 handler who has worked in search and rescue and recovery, including mass fatality recovery, for over 27 years. Along the way she’s attended dozens of seminars, learned from some of the top trainers in the world, and spent countless hours in the field working with a wide variety of agencies. In K9 Teams, Vi compiles the questions most often asked, the issues handlers struggle with, and some of the best suggestions handlers share with one another. K9 Teams explores dog selection, training methods, professional certification, team dynamics, issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, and much more. Everyone working with or interested in detection dogs needs this book. Those in law enforcement, fire departments, and other emergency response agencies will also benefit from the book by learning what K9s can—and cannot—reliably do. Get the most from K9 teams in the field.

Whether you’re searching for drugs or a missing person, K9 Scent Training will improve your K9 team’s capabilities in the field. Use proven techniques to train your dog for: Scent identification line-ups to indicate a scent connection between crime-scene evidence and a suspect. Tracking along a wide variety of track types, including the cold track, the broken-off track and tracks that run over or under cross-tracks. Detection work for searches in buildings, vehicles, open terrain and more. In this must-have guide for SAR teams and police K9 trainers and handlers, Dr. Resi Gerritsen and Ruud Haak present everything you need to know to build or improve a scent training program. Scent training involves high-stakes work, and in the case of a search for a missing person, the right training for your K9 can mean the difference between life and death. Beginning with the science behind odors and how dogs perceive them, Resi and Ruud show you how to harness that knowledge to eliminate training problems and maximize your dog’s potential. You’ll learn how to start scent training for young dogs using simple exercises before building up to more complex training. Finally, using techniques they’ve perfected over decades, Resi and Ruud share their specialized, step-by-step programs for advanced scent identification training and tracking. Get a free ebook through the Shelfie app with the purchase of a print copy.